Compressor Settings

Message

wespaul · #1 Post by **wespaul** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:53 am

Gentlemen,

Recommended bass compressor settings are usually 4:1 to 6:1. I would like to pipe the kick drum in the band directly from an aux feed into my T39/4x10 bass rig for a small gig coming up. A small non-sub PA will carry the vocals and other higher-freq instruments. We're outdoors, but we are a side attraction, so we don't want to be too loud. Will this compressor ratio still be OK with those two different inputs? Thanks.

gdougherty · #2 Post by **gdougherty** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:21 pm

Biggest issue would be timings. Attack and release settings for a kick drum (if a compressor is used at all, many say no) will be different from a compressor used to add sustain on a bass.

Mark Coward · #3 Post by **Mark Coward** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:27 pm

I'd not put bass and kick through the same compressor, or even through the same preamp. If you're running into a bass head of some kind, could you go out the preamp out or FX loop out, into the board, put it and the kick into the aux send returning to power in/FX in?

wespaul · #4 Post by **wespaul** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:43 pm

Mark Coward wrote:I'd not put bass and kick through the same compressor, or even through the same preamp. If you're running into a bass head of some kind, could you go out the preamp out or FX loop out, into the board, put it and the kick into the aux send returning to power in/FX in?

Struggling a bit with this ... what would that do for me? Does running both signals through the board before returning them to the bass rig somehow ...wait - you are telling me how not to have the kick signal go through the compressor, right? In other words, bass guitar line in through the compressor and EQ, out to the board, sum with kick (uncomressed, unEQ'd), out from aux, and back into the amplifier section?

David Robinson · #5 Post by **David Robinson** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 3:59 pm

wespaul wrote:
Mark Coward wrote:I'd not put bass and kick through the same compressor, or even through the same preamp. If you're running into a bass head of some kind, could you go out the preamp out or FX loop out, into the board, put it and the kick into the aux send returning to power in/FX in?
Struggling a bit with this ... what would that do for me? Does running both signals through the board before returning them to the bass rig somehow ...wait - you are telling me how not to have the kick signal go through the compressor, right? In other words, bass guitar line in through the compressor and EQ, out to the board, sum with kick (uncomressed, unEQ'd), out from aux, and back into the amplifier section?

I think that's what Mark's saying. Theoretically, it would work, but I'm not sure what the results would be in actual application. It's definitely worth a try.

wespaul · #6 Post by **wespaul** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:30 pm

Maybe there's another way to do this, too. My bass head has a -15dB input alongside the 0dB input. I could set my rig up as normal, wherein the bass guitar signal goes through the compressor and EQ (and sometimes DI) before hitting the bass head input. Then I take the aux send from the kick and plug it into the -15dB input, turn down the bass guitar signal on the bass guitar itself to match level with kick, and boost stage volume to T39/4x10 to suit. Seems to be a similar concept to Mark's suggestion.

David Robinson · #7 Post by **David Robinson** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 5:40 pm

wespaul wrote:Maybe there's another way to do this, too. My bass head has a -15dB input alongside the 0dB input. I could set my rig up as normal, wherein the bass guitar signal goes through the compressor and EQ (and sometimes DI) before hitting the bass head input. Then I take the aux send from the kick and plug it into the -15dB input, turn down the bass guitar signal on the bass guitar itself to match level with kick, and boost stage volume to T39/4x10 to suit. Seems to be a similar concept to Mark's suggestion.

Some bass heads parallel the inputs if both are used. If your bass is passive, you'll probably lose a good portion of the tone shaping and volume. If you have active electronics on your bass, you might be able to compensate. You just to need to experiment.